GRANITE FALLS, Minnesota, March 14, 2024 - Mni Sota Arts and Pioneer PBS will present an exclusive screening of Leya Hale’s film “The Electric Indian,” a Twin Cities PBS original, Saturday, March 23 with doors opening at 4 p.m. at Pioneer PBS Studio (1 Pioneer Drive, Granite Falls).
A documentary from filmmaker Leya Hale, “The Electric Indian” follows Ojibwe hockey legend, Henry Boucha. A stand-out hockey star from Warroad, Minnesota, Boucha impressed on the ice from the 1969 Minnesota High School Hockey Tournament to the 1972 Olympics to the NHL. An on-ice assault and injury ended his athletic career that unexpectedly led to a journey of healing and cultural reclamation.
Leya Hale comes from the Sisseton Wahpeton Dakota and Diné Nations. She is a multiple regional Emmy award winning documentary producer for Twin Cities PBS. Leya Hale’s work brings visibility to Indigenous lifeways and issues impacting her community.
The film screening will be followed by a forum discussion with Leya Hale and assistant editor Tanner Peterson. Peterson previously worked at Pioneer PBS as a videographer and has family ties to the Sisseton Wahpeton Dakota and is a citizen of Pezihutazizi Oyate (Upper Sioux Community). Anne O’Keefe-Jackson will be moderating. O’Keefe-Jackson is a member of the Caŋṡa’yapi Oyate (Lower Sioux Indian Community), an artist, and is executive director of her Native arts supply business, Mni Sota Arts. Her Wanna Wota food truck will provide food.
This event is free and open to the public. Registration is required as seating is limited. Please register for the event at pioneer.org/events.
About “The Electric Indian” director and producer: Leya Hale is best known for her feature films, ”The People’s Protectors” (2018) and ”Bring Her Home” (2022), both distributed by PBS. In 2020, Leya was awarded the Sundance Institute Merata Mita Fellowship for Indigenous Artists and ”Bring Her Home” was selected to represent the US at INPUT 2022 in Barcelona, Spain. When not producing features, Leya works on a variety of short form content in efforts to highlight underrepresented stories within the upper Midwest region.
About Mni Sota Arts + Anne O’Keefe-Jackson: Mni Sota Arts is a Native arts and mobile resource center based in Morton and Redwood Falls, Minnesota. Anne O’Keefe-Jackson is an enrolled member of the Caŋṡa’yapi Oyate (Lower Sioux Indian Community). She received her undergraduate degree in marketing and American Indian studies from Augsburg College and her master’s degree in business and leadership from Augsburg University. Anne was named a Southwest Initiators Fellow (2020-2021). She served two terms on the Southwest Minnesota Arts Council Board. Currently, she also sits on the Board of The Department of Public Transformation, and is an artist and advocate of the arts.
About Pioneer PBS: Established in 1966, Pioneer PBS is an award-winning, viewer-supported television station dedicated to sharing stories from rural Minnesota with the world. Pioneer PBS is headquartered in Granite Falls, Minnesota, with towers in Appleton, Worthington and Fergus Falls. Pioneer PBS reaches more than a million people in rural areas and small towns in western Minnesota, the eastern Dakotas and northern Iowa. Pioneer PBS is honored to be your television station—the only station in western Minnesota telling your stories and raising your voices into the media landscape. For more information visit pioneer.org or call 800-726-3178.